Four Freedoms Plaza

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In the Marvel universe Four Freedoms Plaza was the replacement headquarters for the Fantastic Four when their original dwelling, the Baxter Building, was destroyed by the adoptive son of Doctor Doom. It was located at 42nd Street and Madison Avenue in New York City. The title of the building comes from a Franklin D. Roosevelt speech urging the Congress of the United States to enter World War II. In it Roosevelt outlined the four freedoms the world would enjoy if it united together to defeat the Axis Power:

Freedom of speech and expression
Freedom of every person to worship God in his own way
Freedom from want
Freedom from fear

The United Nations General Assembly has adapted the Four Freedoms into both the U.N. Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

History

By the time of the original Baxter Building's destruction Reed Richards, brilliant scientist and leader of the Fantasic Four, had already begun to realize that his increasing amount of inventions and equipment was taking up all of the team's available space. After Kristoff Vernard sent the building into space and obliterated it Reed had the perfect opportunity to rethink his approach to their living space. The result: Four Freedoms Plaza, a 1500', 100 story building of concrete and glass. Of the 100 floors the top half belongs to the team while the bottom half belongs to the former tenants of the Baxter Building. Reed, realizing the obvious inconveniance of a supervillain destroying your home, offered the tenants increased space under their old terms, including their 99 year leases.

When the mutant threat Onslaught unleashed an army of Sentinels against New York City, Reed, his wife Sue, her brother Johnny Storm, and their friend Ben Grimm (otherwise known as Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, The Human Torch and the Thing) teamed with other of Earth's mightiest superheroes to face the threat. Many of the heroes, including the Fantastic Four, seemingly sacrificed themselves to save the city (as well as saving their son Franklin, whose incredible power Onslaught wanted to combine with his own). This was not the case, however, as Franklin used his powers to create an alternate universe where the Four unknowingly relived their lives.

Meanwhile, with the Fantastic Four gone, a group called the Masters of Evil impersonating the superhero team the Thunderbolts took over residence of the building and destroyed it. Upon returning from the alternate reality with Franklin, Reed and the Fantastic Four were forced to move into their former warehouse, Pier 4.

Description

(It is important to note that this description of the building encompasses David Edward Martin's ommitted section of the Fantastic Four Compendium. Please see below source)

Of the 100 story building:

floors 1 through 50 belonged to the former tenants of the Baxter Building.
floors 51-70 were "buffer floors", where the tenants did not have 99 year leases. Reed left this space available in case the team expanded or grew and needed more space.
floors 71-100 served as the headquarters for the team. The layout of the floors was essentially the same as the Baxter Building's layout.
floor 71 was a reception area where the team's robot Roberta acted as both a receptionist and a guradian for the rest of the building.
floor 72 acted as an inn where guests of the team would stay. Two suites, maintained solely for aquatic visitors (such as Atlanteans) were accessible from pool entrances. These pools could also be used as aquatic conference rooms, and each suite was a different type of water: one fresh water and one salt water. A watertight elevator connected these suites with the river access tunnel on Sublevel 5.
floors 73-75 were the team's living quarters. Besides the four members of the team the floor also accomodated Alicia Masters (later revealed to be the Skrull Lyja), Crystal, Ms. Marvel II, Wyatt Wingfoot, and She-Hulk among others. There was also a kitchen, pantry, spa, two gyms (one for normal strength levels, the other for super-strong users), a large library, and a computerized classroom.
floors 76 and 77 functioned as the team's command center. Meeting rooms, communications stations, links to Starcore and other astronomical organizations, and a computerized medical station are here.
floors 78-80 were storage for miscellaneous supplies. These floors served as future expansion space and as a buffer in case of a disaster in Reed's laboratory. Alicia claimed a section of 78 as a studio for the times she stayed in the building.
floors 81-99 acted as Reed's laboratory and storage for his equipment. There was an identical workstation on each floor, enabling Reed to work on any floor. The workstation consisted of computer terminals, communications console, and mechanical fabricators. None of these workstations was located overhead any other workstation and no three of them were in a straight line. This minimized the risk of several stations being destroyed in a battle. The workstations were linked to each other and to a similar console in the Richards' home.
floors 90 and 1 contained the Negative Zone Portal. The Portal was in a heavily armored room with walls of Unearthly strength material.
floors 98 and 99 served as warehouse and machine shops. They supported the hangar on 100 and acted as a buffer to absorb damage from possible hangar disasters. Fuel tanks for the FF's vehicles were on 99.
floor 100 was the FF's hangar. It filled the space under the four immense fours that top the building.
The building's foundation reached 150' into the Manhattan bedrock. There were ten floors there. Sublevels 1-2 were used by the building's maintenance staff. Sublevels 3-4 contained the freight docks and tenant warehouse facilities. A railroad spur enabled large masses of freight to be moved in or out without the need to deal with the impenetrable Manhattan traffic. Sublevels 5-15 were restricted to the Fantastic Four. These floors contained special devices and support facilities for floors 71-100. Sublevel 5 contained the waterfilled conduit that reached the Hudson River; this permitted aquatic visitors to directly reach the complex without suffering the indignity of having to swim through the NYC sewer system.

Sources

[FFPlaza.com Database]

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